AMA demolishes four-storey warehouse at Adabraka

A four-storey warehouse at Adabraka in Accra was yesterday pulled down by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), following the detection of structural defects on the building.

The controlled demolition exercise was sanctioned by the Mayor of Accra, Mr Alfred Oko Vanderpuye, after residents raised an alarm about the imminent collapse of the building.

It was subjected to critical assessment by the AMA and engineers from the Ghana Institute of Engineers and Engineers’ Council before it was brought down.

The building, which is located near the African University College of Communications, served as a warehouse for shoes and bags.

The Daily Graphic issue of December 13, carried a publication that said the AMA had served evacuation notices to the owner of the building, Alhaji Tudjani of City Choice Ghana Limited and residents of neighbouring houses, following the detection of the structural defects.

The AMA then said it was working relentlessly to have the threat minimised or removed as soon as practicable.

Giving an insight into what necessitated the initiation of the process to demolish the building, Dr Desmond Aryee-Boi, an engineering consultant, said it was triggered by a distress call from residents after they noticed some cracks on the building.

Dr Desmond Aryee-Boi briefing some engineers, city authorities present at the demolition site

After a series of meetings between Alhaji Tudjani and the city authorities, and on the recommendations of engineers, the building was found to lack structural stability.

He said any stress on the building could have led to casualties, considering the fact that its structures and pillars were barely standing.

Dr Aryee-Boi observed that it was about time estate developers consulted institutions such as the Ghana Institution of Engineers and Engineers' Council which he said, had the duty and mandate to educate the general public on building prescriptions.

"There are a lot of things which show that there was no engineering touch to the building,” he said.

He noted that there were buildings in the capital and other major cities that had similar problems and called on the public to alert the city authorities when they noticed defects in buildings around them.

Dr. Aryee-Boi said the next phase of the demolition would involve verification of initial investigation due to the fact that engineers’ could not access the building and had to rely on speculatory analysis.

He expressed concern over the rate at which buildings were springing up in the urban centres, without recourse to engineers and the city authorities.